Reusable knitted gauze surgical dressing.



H. POPE.

REUSABLE KNITTED GAUZE SURGICAL nazssme.

APPLICATION FiLED SEPT. 9,1913.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

lnvenioi".

Henry byHemd S a: are.

HENRY POPE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented New. 19, 1918.

Application filed September 9, 1918. Serial No. 253,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY Porn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Reusable Knitted Gauze Surgical Dressings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a surgical dressing for use in the treatment of wounds wh'ch shall be adapted to be inserted in or applied to the ound which shall secure minimum irritation to mucous and serous surfaces when brought into contact therewith, which shall be cheaply and expeditiously manufactured, which shall insure that yarn ends or fibers shall not remain adhering to the wound or the said surfaces after removal of the dressing, and which may be readily washed and cleansed, restored to its original shape, and re-used until worn out.

These objects of the invention are secured by forming from soft absorbent cotton yarn a loosely knitted tubular gauze fabric of the required size, length and shape, by securing the edges at the end portions of the tubular sections with an elastic fastening of cotton yarn to prevent fraying or raveling and by thus producing a dressing which may be readily washed and cleansed, restored to its original shape and reused until worn out.

These and other objects of the invention will appear more fully from the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claim.

The drawings illustrate a few of the principal forms of reusable knitted gauze surgical dressings embodying the invention.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an abdominal roll embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of a mouth mask;

Fig. 3 is a view of a square dressing pad formed and folded to present eight thicknesses of the knitted gauze;

Fig. 4 is a view of-a small sponge;

Fig. 5 is a much enlarged detail of a section of rib knitted fabric showing the preferable formation of the knitted gauze.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail showing one I form of elastic finish for securing the end edges of the tubular knitted gauze.

The invention is adapted to be embodied in any of the various forms of surgical dressings which are to be inserted in or brought into contact with "a wound or exposed mucous or serous surfacesr Such dressings are generally known as gauze p'ackings, sponges, compresses, dressing pads, absorbent pads, abdominal rolls, head nets, head and face masks, mouth masks, etc, and, as the general shape, form and size of such dressings are well known, only a few of the principal types are illustrated in the drawings.

These surgical dressings have almost uniformly been made heretofore of a very light weight woven fabric known as gauze and this fabric by reason of the fact that it is woven ina loom is composed of hard twisted fine yarn. The absorbent character of this fabric largely depends upon the interstices of the fabric because the hard twisted char acter of the yarn materially restricts the absorbent character of the yarn itself. This fabric is of a thin and unstable nature and is folded up into a number of thicknesses and greatcare has to be exercised to fold in and protect the raw edges to minimize the constant danger fro'm'the yarn or threads of which it is composed becoming loosened at the edges and adhering to and remaining in the wound after the dressing has been removed therefrom. Owing to the light weight of this fabric it is impractical to finish the edges to prevent the yarn or thread from becoming loosened therefrom, and owing to the character of the fabric it is so impractical to cleanse such dressings and restore the fabric to condition fit for re-use that it is almost the universal practice to throw such dressings away after a single service. An enormous amount of labor,

usually by thehands of volunteer workers, is required to make up surgical dressings from this woven fabric and enormous quantities of the fabric are consumed. I

In the present invention the'material from which the surgical dressings are made is formed from soft absorbent cotton yarn which has by reason of its soft character large absorbent characteristics. This soft absorbent cotton yarn is loosely knitted into a tubular gauze fabric of such size that when the tubular fabric is flattened out it presents the width required for the particular dressing. This soft knitted fabric'is preferably formed on the usual circular rib knitting machine, the character of rib knitted .work which is well known in the lmitting art being illustrated in Fig. 5. This knitted fabric is readily producted on the rib knitting machine which is capable of handling soft yarn at a high rate ofspeed and thus in a most cheap and expeditious manner. By

reason of its essentialformation in tubular form there are no side edges from .which fibers or threads may become detached or loosened. The entire fabric is absorbent both with respect to the yarn itself and the interstices of the fabric and is of a soft non-irritating character.

The fabric is preferably knit continuously and severed into sections of the length re quired.

The end edges are finished with an elastic .fastening of cotton yarn. This elastic fastening may be effected either by a separate operation after the completionv of the knit tubular sections or it may be effected in the operation of knitting itself. In the latter case the cotton yarn of the tubular knit section is formed into an-elastic fastening by the knitting of an ordinary welt or a French welt or any similar well known concatenation which provides a non-raveling finish. Such an elastic fastening effected 1n the edges, securely fastening the yarn ends and preventing danger of the yarn ends fraying orraveling out, at the same time producing a fastening of a highly elastic nature.

In making up the dressing a'tubu'lar section of a single thickness of knitted .Web may be employed, as in most of the dressings illustrated, or two or more sections of the tubular fabric may be concentrically superposed as in the case of the large pad illustratedin Fig. 3 where two such concentrically superposed tubular sections 2 and 3 are employed. In such cases the superimposed edges are secured by a single elastic fastening 4 as shown in the said Fig. 3'.-

The tubular section of knitted gauze may be folded on itself one or more times to form the required thickness as for example in the case of the large pad illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein the two ply tubular section is shown doubled thus producing eight thicknesses.

' The dressings may be provided whenrequired with tapes 5 for securing the dressings in place or for removingthe" dressings from the wound,such tapes-being illustrated in several of'thefigures of the drawings.

It will" thus be seen that all danger of yarnor fibers becoming se arated from the dressing and adhering to or remaining in the wound after the removal of the dressing therefrom is prevented because there are no side edges of the dressing by reason of its tubular formation and because the end edges are rotected by the elastic fastening.

The elastic fastening, when of the type illustrated, is, effected expeditiously and cheaply by means of well known types of trimming and overseaming machines and when of the welt type is effected in the knitting'operation itself, so that the entire operation of making the fabric of the dressing ready for folding into the required number of thicknesses is performed by machinery.

The dressing thus formed, whatever may be its shape, size and number of thicknesses, is of a soft and highly absorbent character and produces a minimum amount of irritation when brought into contact with or placed in a Wound or'brought-into contact with mucous or serous surfaces.

After such a dressing has once been used and has become impregnated with pus or blood from the wound it may be readily and easily cleansed, washed, sterilized, restored to its original condition and re-used. Any suitable process or processes may be employed for'this purpose. Preferably such dressings after use are soaked in cold water with frequent rinsings from 12 to 24 hours, are then boiled for 20 to 30 minutes, are then washed with soap and hot water in a washing machine, are then thoroughly rinsed and passed through a wringer, and are then dried.

Preferably the drying operation may be performed by slipping the tubular fabric of the dressing over a steam heated metallic form: The dressing is thus dried and left in its original size and shape. The tubular knitted gauze is then in its original condition and is then sent to the operating pavilion where the nurses fold it up into the required number of thicknesses, pack the dressings in bundles andsterilize themin the autoclave. But any suitable method may be emp'loyed'for washing", cleansing, sterilizing anddrying the dressings. I

The principal p'oint is that the dressings of this invention are capable ofthus beingv washed, cleaned and sterilized and restored to their original condition. They come out of these operations soft and pliable and ready for re-use and this re-use of the dressings may be repeated until the fabric is worn out. The life of the dressings and the number of services or re-uses thus depends chiefly upon the wear due to the washing andcleansing operation; 7

The dressings of this invention may be manufactured at substantially the cost, or even less than the cost, of dressings made from woven gauze and as these dressings are capable of being re-used: a large number of times the actual cost of the dressings per application or service is reduced to a very small figure.

By reason of the elastic character of the tubular knitted gauze fabric forming the dressing, pads of absorbent material of any suitable character may be inserted in the tubular fabric when required and may readily be removed therefrom after use.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A re-usable knitted gauze surgical dressing composed of soft absorbent cotton yarn Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the loosely knitted into a section of tubular form and having the end edges of the tubular section secured against fraying or raveling by an elastic fastening of cotton yarn, the said dressing being insertible in or applicatory to a wound or applicatory to mucous or serous surfaces without danger of yarn ends remaining in the wound or upon said surfaces after removal of the dressing, and the said dressing being washable and cleansable and reusable until worn out.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY POPE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

